Will iconic images recorded in the grooves of an ancient vase unite the Holy Land or rip it further apart?

THE VASE

A novel by Mark M. DeRobertis

Muhsin Muhabi is a Palestinian potter, descended from a long line of potters. His business is run from the same shop owned by his ancestors since the day his forebears moved to Nazareth. The region's conflict saw the death of his oldest son, and rogue terrorists are in the process of recruiting his youngest in their plot to assassinate the Pope and Israeli prime minister.

Professor Hiram Weiss is an art historian at Nazareth’s Bethel University. He is also a Shin Bet operative on special assignment. With the help of fellow agent, Captain Benny Mathias, he plans to destroy the gang responsible for the death of his wife and only child. He puts a bomb in the ancient vase he takes on loan from Muhsin’s Pottery Shop.

Mary Levin, the charming assistant to the director of Shin Bet, has lost a husband and most of her extended family to recurring wars and never-ending terrorism. She dedicates her life to the preservation of Israel, but to whom will she dedicate her heart? The brilliant professor from Bethel University? Or the gallant captain who now leads Kidon?

Harvey Holmes, the Sherlock of Haunted Houses, is a Hollywood TV host whose reality show just flopped. When a Lebanese restaurant owner requests his ghost-hunting services, he believes the opportunity will resurrect his career. All he has to do is exorcise the ghosts that are haunting the restaurant. It happens to be located right across the street from Muhsin’s Pottery Shop.




Monday, January 7, 2013

Monday, Monday

It's Monday, finally, and back to the grindstone, as school resumes and I'm back in the classroom. But as far as my writing is concerned, the sequel to Killer of Killers, which I call Killer Eyes, is more than halfway through the rewriting stage. Now that I finally have a full understanding of POV, that is what I'm focusing on at this time. Killer of Killers is pretty good about POV, and The Vase, I must say, is near perfect, and Killer Eyes will be near perfect, too, as soon as I finish this latest rewrite.

But overall, I got a lot done over the break. The complete rewrite of The Vase, and the first half of Killer Eyes. And this POV thing was the focus. I'm rereading Killer of Killers in its print form, a little bit every night when I hit the sack. Mostly it's just fine in POV concerns, but there are some details that I wish I had realized when I had reloaded it those couple times.

But no big deal, just some minor details. When I reloaded, I focused on typos and some clunker sentences. And I did fix some POV issues, too, so it's mostly good right now, and it's a good thing, because you don't want to keep reloading too much.

Some publishers will even charge an author for doing that. Good thing Melange didn't. That's another good thing about Melange. Can't wait to send them Killer Eyes.

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